20 December 2012

Fabrice
Brégier, Airbus President & CEO said last week in a meeting with media.
"We are satisfied with the past stages but there is more risk of delay
than to be in advance”. In that meeting, Brégier talked about three risk
sharing partners; the first one, British Rolls Royce, in charge of the engine
that is arriving the FAL in few weeks.

The goal is
certification by the European aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and risk mitigation.

Airbus has
identified another two suppliers (called RSP-risk sharing partners) that gives small
signs of concerns.

Alestis Aerospace. Financial issues.

The case of
Spanish Alestis Aerospace, which was placed under court administration in
May/2012, is different. As same as what it did with the German supplier PFW -which
produces precision aviation tubes-, Airbus is trying to enter the capital of
Alestis. In principle, this operation will be temporary.

Alestis
Aerospace is facing a cash crunch and from May this year it is operating from
one bill to the next. Airbus has taken the control of the group as new CEO was
former managing director of Airbus Military facility of Tablada (Sevilla). This
is a more severe intervention called “transformation project” where “deeper
levels of operational support are provided”, with financial support, if
approved before Christmas.

Alestis is in
charge of the belly fairing and the section 19.1 of the rear fuselage.

Alestis, as
Spirit, has a workpackage in 787-9 and has delivered the HTP-Tips (a
subassembly of metallic and composite parts) and strakelets (2 fairing in the
HTP) to Boeing some weeks ago.

Based on the article
“L'Airbus A350 proche de son envol“ published in La Tribune